Ieq Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ieq Capital LLC lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 37.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,494 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $2,960,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,074,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 48,101.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $81.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.61. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.